The New Music Thread - The Guardians Edition

These two old-school heavy metal bands have new albums coming out next month:

Another new single, another awesome feeling I have about the upcoming DragonForce album:

And in other news... Prepare yourselves, epic deathly power metal fans! Wintersun is coming with their looooooooooooong-awaited Time II album later this year!! FOR REAL!!!

https://chaoszine.net/wintersun-announce-major-news-time-ii-is-finally-finished/

https://metaladdicts.com/wintersun-to-launch-another-crowdfunding-campaign-in-march/

Saxon - Hell, Fire and Damnation (2024)

Released 19th January

Well, this is a real trip down memory lane, I must admit. I feel a bit unfair, reducing Saxon's latest offering to a mere nostalgia trip, but for me, that is definitely what it is - and in more ways than one. I can scarce believe that it is almost 45 years since I first encountered Saxon, supporting Motörhead on their 1979 Bomber tour, when both they and me were far more fresh-faced and less battle-scarred than now with entire futures ahead of us. Well, on the evidence of Hell, Fire and Damnation, the years have been kinder to the Yorkshiremen than to me and they are still seemingly able to call upon that youthful energy with some cracking classic heavy metal riffs, shred-like guitar solos and Biff shrugging off the years, his ability to belt-out the lyrics with siren-like power seemingly undiminished by time.

I was heavily into the NWOBHM scene at the time and Saxon were a huge part of that, but as the scene waned and those young bloods from the Bay Area revolutionised the metal sound, bands like Saxon suddenly seemed old hat and unable to compete with the heightened aggression and excitement that thrash metal brought to the table. So they, like many of their contemporaries, faded from my life, the gulf between us only being made wider by my discovery of even more extreme forms of metal in later years and Saxon faded into nothing but a distant memory. At least, that is until my attention was drawn to the band's 2018 album Thunderbolt which was a shot in the arm of modern-sounding, old-school heavy metal and opened my eyes to the fact that Biff and co still had what it takes to deliver a high-powered, vibrant and, above all, relevant heavy metal album. Admittedly I haven't kept up with Saxon's releases in the meantime, so six years and one pandemic on from Thunderbolt what have we got? Well, this is a step or two down from that top-level beauty and it does have a couple of clunkers on it, Madame Guillotine being the most egregious example, it just feels flat and a bit contrived, ending up somewhat less than thrilling to my ears, but a track like There's Something in Roswell is guilty of excessive clunkiness too. The opening Brian Blessed-voiced intro didn't help either. I like Brian well enough, but he is very difficult to listen to with a straight face and it is exacerbated by the fact that he is the voice of floor cleaner ads on TV here in the UK!

That said, the title track, which is the first proper track, is a glorious slice of triumphant, fist-pumping metal that takes all the pomp and circumstance of power metal and pares it down to what is important and leaves a shimmering core that rivals the band's heyday. Elsewhere Fire and Steel and closer Supercharger fair rattle along, reminiscent of the proto speed metal of Judas Priest's Exciter or multiple tracks on Painkiller. Kubla Khan and the Merchant of Venice, 1066 and Witches of Salem mine the historical themes so beloved of Steve Harris and have a similat grandiose feel to some of the tracks Harris penned for Maiden's last album, Senjutsu.

I mentioned earlier that this is nostalgic for more than one reason and the lyrics to Fire and Steel are an example of it, being a paeon to the hulking , smoke- and fire-spewing steelworks of England's disappeared industrial landscape. I myself live only a handful of miles from the site where one such industrial behemoth was once sited (now the headquarters of an online gambling company) where it was such a dominating presence over the city I inhabit. Elsewhere, on Pirates of the Airwaves the rose-tinted spectacles of nostalgia are used to examine the days of pirate radio when we used to try nightly to tune our radios to the unpredictable broadcasts of Radio Luxembourg in the hope of catching some decent rock music, which was unheard of on the legal radio stations and Supercharger brings back memories of a string of high-powered motorcycles and cars I spent all my cash on in my late teens and early twenties.

So, for me, this is a solid enough slab of trad metal with some tasty riffs, cool lead work, a frontman with a distinctive and undiminished vocal delivery but it is most notable for it's ability to propel me back forty-plus years and leave me with a wide, if somewhat wistful, smile on my face.

3.5/5

I've been giving this a few spins and I still think it's pretty damn good even without nostalgia goggles. Maybe it's the overall lack of straight up Heavy Metal these days, but Saxon continue to deliver material that, honestly, gets right to the point of the whole genre. I'm glad that Sonny had such a long and well thought out write-up because due to that same sort of simplicity that causes me to enjoy this album, it leaves me struggling for things to say. You kind of know what you're getting with Saxon these days and I don't think that Hell, Fire and Damnation is truly that different than Carpe Diem or Thunderbolt. That being said, this collection of songs hit me harder than Carpe Diem did, so that has to count for something. I can't really fault them for sticking to their guns though, since Saxon are one of the few bands I've seen from the early 1980's that have legitimately not taken a break since their inception. The longest period between a Saxon album was Thunderbolt (2018) to Carpe Diem (2022), most of the time being two years, and this is now their 25th album. It's kind of nuts, to be honest. The fact that they're able to consistently provide exciting material while never really straying from the roots of the genre is something to be commended, even if it isn't the greatest thing ever. 

3.5 / 5

DragonForce has done it again! They turned a pop single into a kick-A speedy power metal song, just the way I like these kinds of covers:

Swedish trance metal masters Amaranthe have just released their brand new seventh full-length "The Catalyst". I actually didn't mind their last record "Manifest" so I wouldn't be averse to this one passing by my ear holes at some point although I'd suggest that it's unlikely to get too much of my attention.

The news that Judas Priest are releasing a brand new album next month has made me realise that I never even got around to checking out their last one in 2018's highly praised "Firepower". The newie is called "Invincible Shield" & will no doubt get a fair bit of attention. I'm a fan of new-ish guitarist Richie Faulkner so there would have to be a good chance of some more quality heavy metal with this one too.

For those of us that enjoyed last year's self-titled E.P. from US power metallers Savage Oath (raises his hand), their debut album "Divine Battle" hits the streets next week.

For those that are interested (i.e. not me), there's a new Savatage album due to be released on 4th April entitled "Curtain Call". It'll be their twelfth full-length & their first since 2001's "Poets & Madmen".

The final pre-release single for Warp Speed Warriors is a wild fast banger that's like "Power of the Saber Blade" but with more variety:

Seriously, check out how old Glenn Tipton & Ian Hill look in the new Judas Priest video clip. They can barely move, let alone play! With producer Andy Sneap shown playing as a third guitarist, I'm skeptical about the chances of Tipton (76) & Hill (71) having actually played on the record, particularly given the undeniable skill set of lead guitarist Richie Faulkner. Am I wrong? The track's not all that good either to be honest although there's no doubt that it sounds exactly like Priest.

I have no intention on revisiting the over-the-top pirate humor of Alestorm nor checking out their new Voyage of the Dead Marauder EP. However, I wasn't gonna miss out on listening to their cover of a song from the RuneScape MMORPG soundtrack. I can definitely find some fun nostalgia there! Now I'm hoping for Gloryhammer or DragonForce to later cover one of the more epic battle-oriented RuneScape tracks...

New York heavy/power metal legends Riot V have a brand new album coming out on 12th April entitled "Mean Streets". I don't think I've heard any of their gazillion albums since 1988's excellent "ThunderSteel" but enjoyed all of their 1980's records so I'm a little curious.

Two more new releases coming our way from old 70's/80's bands this month:

If you enjoyed our feature release from Brooklyn-based hard rock/heavy metal act Tanith (i.e. their 2019 debut album "In Another Time") as much as I did then you might be interested to check out this brand new live recording:

The brand new sixth album from female-fronted Canadian power metallers Unleash The Archers (entitled "Phantoma") is due to be released next month. Despite finding their first two melodeath-inclined records to be decidedly underwhelming, I loved their 2017 fourth album "Apex" when it was featured here some time ago so I think this could be a rewarding listen too.

I've always quite liked the one-off 1979 "Fröm The Fjörds" album from Connecticut trio Legend, a record that combines a number of influences including the heavy metal of Black Sabbath, the progressive rock of Yes & the jazz fusion of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It was also one of the earliest genuine metal releases to come out of the USA. Interestingly, drummer Raymond E. Frigon has turned born-again Christian & decided to re-record the album with the adjusted title of "From The Lord" & with new Christian lyrics. He's the only one of the members that are left these days so this isn't the most relevant release of 2024.

Swedish hard rockers Ghost will be releasing their brand-new "Rite Here Rite Now" film soundtrack record on 26th July. I believe they've headed further away from metal over their last couple of albums but I thought this might interest some of you anyway. I've only heard their 2015 third album "Meliora" before but I have to admit that I didn't mind its professional progressive metal sound. I can't see me finding the time to check this one out though if I'm being honest.

So German power metal legends Blind Guardian appear to be releasing a re-recorded version of their classic 1992 fourth full-length "Somewhere Far Beyond" next month, a record that I quite like so I may check this out.

So German power metal legends Blind Guardian appear to be releasing a re-recorded version of their classic 1992 fourth full-length "Somewhere Far Beyond" next month, a record that I quite like so I may check this out.

Super eager to see where this goes.  They don't need to re-record such a legendary album, but maybe they'll spice it up somehow.

I was morbidly curious and couldn't stop myself from immediately checking out the one single they have out, the re-recorded "Quest for Tanelorn". I...wasn't very impressed. It's interesting to hear Kürsch's approach now that his voice has changed with age, but that's about it. For me, the instrumentals definitely sound more precise and modern, but the original has a certain energy to it that gets lost in the process. Everyone will have their preferences with productions and I'm definitely biased since this is one of my favorite albums of all time, but I think "revisits" like this make me roll my eyes because they always seem to try to remake the songs note for note and the only differences are the production, the vocalist, and minor changes in playing technique for the other members. Somewhere Far Beyond sounded fine and although I'm still glad they're doing this to get a more definitive, updated version other than the 2007 remaster, I still scratch my head when things like the guitar solo are replayed note for note. I think I'd be infinitely more interesting if they take the opportunity to reevaluate and maybe make some changes that you learned may improve the song after 32 extra years of experience, but that's obviously not what we're getting here. Ah well.

Blind Guardian have also released a live rendition of the "Somewhere Far Beyond" album in the last couple of weeks. I might give it a run at some point as I quite like the original studio version of the album.

A couple of new releases from old NWOBHM bands coming out shortly:

Blitzkrieg - "Blitzkrieg"

I didn't mind Blitzkrieg's 1980 demo tape or their 1981 "Buried Alive/Blitzkrieg" single but found that they'd kinda lost me by the time they finally got their 1985 "A Time of Changes" debut album out. They've released about ten thousand albums since then though so who knows what this one will be like in 2024.

Satan - "Songs in Crimson"

Then we have this one from Blitzkrieg vocalist Brian Ross' other band Satan. Everyone raves about Satan's 1983 debut album "Court in the Act". I don't mind it but can't say I see what's so special about it. I haven't liked anything else I've heard from the band either so I can't say that this one excites me too much.

Hold the presses!! A new Grand Magus is due on October 18th, their first for five long years. Vinyl pre-order already gone in!

There's a couple of preview tracks up on YouTube, Spotify and Bandcamp: